If you're watching TV, having a shower, posting a letter or picking up a prescription - it will cost you more on Saturday!

If you're watching TV, having a shower, posting a letter or picking up a prescription - it will cost you more on Saturday!

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If you're watching TV, having a shower, posting a letter or picking up a prescription - it will cost you more on Saturday!

31 March 2017

We're not joking, 1st April really is 'National Price Hike Day' when you'll be hit with yet another raft of inflation-busting price hikes and many of your day to day activities will cost you more.

Each household will have to find an extra £901 over the next 12 months to cover the increased costs, a total of £1.7 billion1 across the UK.

From Saturday 1st April

Council tax bills are expected to go up by an average of 4% in England and Wales.

Water bills will increase by £6 (2%) to £395 for the average household.

Prescription costs will also go up by 20p from £8.40 to £8.60.

NHS dental charges payable for a check up will increase by 90p (almost 5%) from £19.70 to £20.60. The dental charge for a band 2 course of treatment will increase by 2.40p from £53.90 to £56.30 (4%). The charge for a band 3 course of treatment will increase by £10.60 from £233.70 to £244.30 (almost 5%)2.

First-class stamps have risen3 from 64p to 65p and the price of a second-class stamp has gone up to 56p. Posting a small parcel now costs 5p more up from £3.35 to £3.40.

TV licence costs will also go up by £1.50 from £145.50 to £147.

Air Passenger Duty on long haul flights (over 2,000 miles) is set to increase by 2.74%, hiking flight costs by as much as £12.

Communications suppliers crank up costs

BT will roll out their planned price hikes on the 2nd of April, which includes; 'Basic Broadband' is going up £2 per month (£35.99 with landline inc), BT Infinity 1 and 2 are both going up by £2.50 per month, landline calls will go up by 1p (to 12p and 16p), BT Sport (Sky box users) is increasing by £1.50 per month and call plans (such as weekend calls) will cost a whopping 30p more.

EE bills will rise by 2.5% across the board, in line with January RPI.

O2 bills will also increase by 2.6% in line with February RPI, alongside a hike to all call charges outside the monthly allowance.

Vodafone customers that took out a monthly plan on or after the 5th of May 2016 will see a bill hike of 3.2% in line with March RPI.

Prices are also heating up for energy customers

Scottish Power customers will seen their standard dual fuel bills rocket by an average of 7.8% or £86 per year.

nPower dual fuel bills have just gone up by 9.8%, leaving customers on a standard variable tariff £110 out of pocket on average.

Co-op Energy bills will crank up prices across its standard rates by 5%, leaving those with a dual fuel tariff typically £58 worse off.

EoN is also jumping on the bandwagon later this month, with an average price hike of 8.8% for its dual fuel customers, meaning an annual bill hike of £97 on average.

SSE will not be increasing its gas prices; however, 2.8 million electricity customers will be hit with an eye-watering 14.9% price hike at the end of the month, so dual fuel customers will be landed with an extra £73 to pay a year on average.

Commenting on the price rises, Hannah Maundrell, Editor in Chief of money.co.uk, said:

"I'm not joking, it really is National Price Hike Day as the cost of everyday activities is going up left right and centre. From postage to prescription and dental costs, your wallet is going to be hit left, right and centre. These hikes may appear to be small and 'nothing to worry about', but add them all together and it could cost you around £90 extra over the next year.

"While you can't avoid some of the increases, you can certainly take control when it comes to managing the cost of your energy, phone and broadband. We've got the bumpy Brexit ride ahead of us, with no idea what the future holds. The more money you can keep in your pocket and not pass on to suppliers the better. Why should you pay more for something you can get far cheaper elsewhere?"

Notes:1. £88.00 (rounded up to £90) per year is calculated by taking a snapshot of key household outgoings, calculating the sum of price rises. £1,663,200,000 was derived by multiplying £88.00 by 18.9m. In 2016 there were 18.9 families in the UK (ONS)2. Each band of dental treatment includes the following; * Band 1 is check-ups, scale and polish, diagnosis and treatment planning, marginal corrections of fillings, braces etc. * Band 2 is additional treatment, such as fillings, root canal treatment and removing teeth. * Band 3 is more complex procedures, such as crowns, dentures and bridges.3. The cost of stamps increased on the 27th March 2017. 4. The date at which these price hikes take effect depends on the billing date for each individual customer but most will land between March and April.

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